Feelings in Mind-Body Harmony

In the Reiki precepts we see the statement shinshin kaizen, which stands for mind-body improvement.

Within our practice we often get distracted by feelings, or we try to establish what we are feeling during our practice. We sit in mediation and we are trying to see what we feel: bliss, openness, interconnectedness, you name it.

But when we are trying to see what we feel, reaching and grasping toward whatever it may be, this creates a gap between our mind and body. Our mind and body are not in harmony and therefore we have lost the pristine fresh playful moment that mind-body harmony can bring.

If we are looking for a feeling or looking for an experience, that means we are distracted.

A feeling which comes from a harmonious mind-body does not need to be looked for. Just like when I move my arm, the shadow is right there. It is instantaneous; there is no gap. Just like when I drink a cup of tea, the taste is right there. In harmony, there is no need to look for what you are feeling because it happens simultaneously; the mind-body notes blend without thought, without reaching.

The moment we try to look for a specific feeling we are already out of mind-body harmony. And when not in harmony within ourselves, we are also not in harmony with others.

For example, two people might be talking and the person listening is trying to feel beyond the words, looking for a specific feeling or sensation. Now the harmony between the two is lost. The person talking might feel that the other is not listening anymore or is not even with them anymore because the person who is trying to feel something is now too distracted by their mind and not in their body anymore.

This happens a lot in our daily life; we can observe it very easily. This is why in our meditation practice we have to train ourselves in not trying to feel something and to harmonize our mind-body. Else we never will learn how to be able to do this in our daily life.

With practice, through the harmonizing of our own mind-body we will be more in harmony with others; there will be no gap. We will have focused attention and therefore better conversations and better physical interaction with others. We will find that our mind is not all over the place but is in harmony with our body, and therefore we are right here, not distracted by the past, present, and future. Everything within our mind and body happens simultaneously: no gap, no escape, right in their pristine fresh playful moment.